The Golden Palominos - S/T

Anton Fier's "revolving-door band", in their first stellar effort, comprised of such masters as Bill Laswell, Arto Lindsay, John Zorn & Fred Frith. This shit is absolutely essential.



geet.

Marc Ribot - Asmodeus: Book of Angels Vol. 7 (2007)

Been gone for about a month...
Time to start posting music more frequently.

This is a great album by Marc Ribot based on Zorn's Masada songbook. Raw and abrasive, Ribot blazes with his overdriven guitar.

i am the iron(ic) man

Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog- Party Intellectuals (2008)

Ribot's "first rock band since high school". Jeez Louise.

"Ceramic Dog
1. chien du faience: expression: frozen with emotion, as in the perfectly still moment before a fight breaks out.
2. Ultimate kitsch object.
3. A free/punk/funk/experimental/psychedelic/post electronica collective, featuring Marc (Cubanos Postizos, John Zorn, Tom Waits, etc etc), plus two of the best young players on the New York/California underground improv/experimental rock scene, Shazad Ismailly (bass) and Chess Smith (drums)
4. Not a 'project': a real band.

"Marc Ribot's new power trio, filled out by the remarkable versatile rhythm team of bassist Shahzad Ismaily and drummer Ches Smith, is his rawest band in ages." (TimeOut NY)"

todo el mundo es kitsch.

The Big Gundown: John Zorn Plays the Music of Ennio Morricone

HOLY SHIT.

Electric Masada at John Zorn's 50th Birthday Celebration

For whatever reason, what Miles Davis accomplished with Bitches Brew - arguably the album that put fusion on the map - has never been matched and has rarely been emulated. Fusion and various forms of jazz-rock abound thanks to Miles and other pioneering artists, but the sounds and textures of Bitches Brew remain nearly unique - fusion artists took different directions and, for whatever reason, ended up sounding more directly derived from groups like Mahavishnu Orchestra than the free-form, spacious Bitches Brew-era Miles.

John Zorn's Electric Masada, here recorded at a gig in New York, is one of the few fusion groups that actually sounds a lot like Miles circa Bitches Brew. The group takes seven Masada compositions and turns them into raging, energetic beasts. "Idalah-abal", from Alef, here becomes a ferocious number with Marc Ribot's guitar jamming on an anchoring riff while Zorn flails away at his saxophone. "Hadasha" is the most Bitches Brew-like number, what with Ribot's wah-wah guitar, Zorn's more controlled blowing, and an open, spacious texture. The performances are inspired and inspiring; fitting for the occasion, part of Zorn's massive 50th birthday bash in New York.

Throughout it all, the percussion holds the group together and provides a consistently interesting and controlled backdrop to the sometimes chaotic improvisation (particularly by Zorn and electronics whiz Ikue Mori). With two drummers and a percussionist, the rhythms here are fascinating yet always groovy; for instance lending the last track, "Kisofim", a Latin shuffle kind of feel. With such a reliably interesting rhythm section, Zorn and his cohorts are free to jam into outer space. And jam they do.

If you enjoy fusion a la Bitches Brew - wide-open improvs anchored by a great groove and the occasionally rocking riff (and spiced up, once in a while, by an intensity that compares best to Naked City) - Electric Masada is one of the best things that's come along in the past decade. No exaggeration.

-Brandon Wu

The Lineup: John Zorn, Marc Ribot, Cyro Baptista, Ikue Mori, Joey Baron, Kenny Wollesen, Jamie Saft, Trevor Dunn. Not too shabby. Amazing shit.

Mazel Tov

John Zorn - Moonchild (2006)

Features Mike Patton on vocals, Joey Baron on drums and Trevor Dunn on bass. All arrangements by John Zorn. Compositions and improvisation in a rock format that evoke deep tension. Dunn is amazing on bass and so is Patton and Baron. This album breaks new ground. Loud as fuck and definitely not for the faint of heart.

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